The Bluebird Patch

Callaway Gardens is a stunning 14000 acre garden oasis and resort located at Pine Mountain, GA that offers visitors unique attractions and shows such as the "TreeTop Adventure", a butterfly center, birds of prey show, and the world's largest azalea garden featuring both hybrid and native azaleas. Callaway Gardens also has a private beach, two golf courses, Mountain View, a previous PGA Championship course, and Lake View, a discovery Bike Trail, five walking trails, tennis courts, plus visitors can enjoy fly fishing, and a variety of seasonal events like the upcoming Harvest Moon Festival. The Callaway Gardens Harvest Moon Festival is a food and music extravaganza like no other! This family-friendly music festival October 6-9, 2011, features musical performances from The B-52s, The Gin Blossoms and John Hiatt, and multiple Grammy-winning Shawn Colvin and also includes Celebrity chef Claire Robinson, host of the Food Network’s popular “5 Ingredient Fix.”

For a long time now I've been wanting to make a "albondiga" (meatball) soup. After reading several recipes I concluded it was best to just follow my gut instincts and stick with flavors I know work well together. This recipe is not either Mexican, Italian, or southern but more a fusion of different cuisines. For example, the traditional Mexican "albondiga" soup is made with onions and rice. My version uses arborio rice, and a "sofrito" of minced shallots, garlic, and sun dried tomatoes cooked in white wine that is later incorporated into the ground beef.  The broth is created by using equal parts of vegetable, chicken, and beef stock instead of just using the traditional vegetable stock. Make sure you have at least 8 cups of liquid. Add a 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, a few bay leafs, a can of fire roasted tomatoes, one dice potato, some celery and carrots to the broth and you are all set.   For the "albondiga" I like using extr

By Liza Cardona Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have  more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do,  in order to have what you want.   ~Margaret Young How do you value your life? What makes the life you live a good one? If you could imagine yourself in the distant future, at 80 years of age what criteria would you use to indicate that you have lived a worthy, meaningful, and successful live? A recent study by the Department of Psychology of the University of Toronto revealed the top 30 indicators for a good life. Religion, surprisingly was given the least importance while having close enduring friendships, followed by having a healthy and happy family made it to the top of the list. So what does this mean? Happiness is, and will always be, our number one priority. People value friends, health

Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values. Ayn Rand   This month is going to be burdensome for our family. Big changes are around the corner and I am struggling to post content on the blog. As much as I love blogging, I love my family 100 times more so I need to step back and focus on them. This transition, although is a positive one, is time consuming so I won't be able to post as much as I used to. Quality is better than quantity...   Funny part is my stats are absolutely insane. Maybe is the improved SEO but search engines are crawling my site more than ever. I also want to focus on cooking more and posting recipes. This is something I truly enjoy but for some reason I just keep postponing. I want to take cooking more seriously and share my knowled